BOWMAN BACK TO CHASE HIS FINAL DREAM

The Red Wings, having already dismissed the importance of the regular season for the last two years, succeeded in dismissing the importance of having one head coach. Assistants Barry Smith and Dave Lewis guided the team to four wins in five games before Bowman took over Friday night.

With essentially the same team that won the Stanley Cup for the second straight year last season, the Wings pretty much know what to do by now. And if they slip, Bowman is back to set them straight.

But Bowman is coming back from a difficult summer. His brother died, and he had heart and knee surgeries, all of which made him appreciate his position even more.

"It's pretty select company . . . to be a head coach in the NHL," Bowman told the Detroit Free Press. "It's a pretty privileged group to get to--to be a coach of a major professional team. You feel like you're in a pretty special spot. . . . Two years ago, I signed a contract to come back for two years, and you always hope you can fulfill every contract you sign."

He would also like to fulfill one final dream: coaching a Cup winner for a ninth time, which would be a record.

Flying high: The Philadelphia Flyers continue their tear through the East, seemingly ready to answer every question about them.

Their problems at goalie look to be solved with John Vanbiesbrouck, whose stellar early play has quelled fans' talk that he was signed because he was cheaper--but not better--than Mike Richter and Curtis Joseph.

Their coach, Roger Neilson, doesn't have the deer-caught-in-headlights look Wayne Cashman had and may put the Terry Murray debacle behind the franchise for good.

Most of all, the much-maligned Eric Lindros is playing as well as he ever has, which is to say as well as anybody in the league. Lindros had six goals in the Flyers' first six games.

"I see a different Lindros," said Lightning coach Jacques Demers after his team lost to the Flyers. "Usually, Lindros would yap, and every time someone would push him he (would respond).

"He's very, very focused. That is dangerous for the whole NHL."

Well, not the whole NHL. The New Jersey Devils continue to mystify the Flyers. The coaches change and the key players change, but the Devils remain a puzzle the Flyers can't solve. The Devils beat Philadelphia 3-2 Thursday.

Bure the Blueshirt? The ever-churning rumor mill in New York is tossing around Pavel Bure-to-the-Rangers possibilities. Bure has said he won't play in Vancouver again, and there is little doubt that he will be traded. But General Manager Brian Burke has said that he feels no rush to move Bure.

As for the Rangers, they are a logical destination for two reasons: dollars and change. The Rangers no doubt could afford Bure, even with a new contract for next season. And they desperately need to make a change.

The Rangers have hit the bad-roster trifecta: They are old, bad and overpaid. They also play in the least patient town in the country. The real question is whether they have the right package to entice Vancouver. Burke may turn down Alexei Kovalev, and the Rangers may not want to part with their higher-profile stars.

Oilers' trade watch: Having signed Doug Weight to a two-year, $7.8 million deal, the Oilers may look to trade some of their more expensive players. Defenseman Boris Mironov is one possibility, with Toronto as a possible landing spot.

"I would trade for (Mironov) in a heartbeat," Maple Leafs Associate General Manager Mike Smith told the Edmonton Sun.

That sparked a rumor that there could be a three-way deal with Montreal, which would receive goalie Felix Potvin from Toronto in the scenario.

Messier's milestone: Vancouver center Mark Messier scored his 600th goal Friday night, the 10th player ever to do so. While he admitted it was a "pretty big" achievement, Messier still managed to downplay it.

"I always put the team ahead of any individual goals," he said. "I didn't want the guys to think I was pressing for 600. Our rallying cry this year is to play a solid team game."

That's always been Messier's rallying cry, which explains why he has skated with the Stanley Cup six times--and survived under Mike Keenan twice.